Ufone Introduced Free SMS From Gmail
Gmail SMS is now available for Ufone numbers as well. Gmail SMS was initially launched in February by Google and was only available for Mobilink numbers, but now, you can even send free texts to Ufone numbers. There is no official announcement by Ufone yet, but we are guessing it would be up soon on their Facebook/Twitter pages.
What is Gmail SMS? It is a free web-to-SMS service which allows Gmail users to send text messages to any Ufone subscriber via Gmail chat. Ufone users can also reply back to that SMS which will appear on Gmail user’s chat box – just like chatting on Google Talk. For more details, read: Gmail SMS – How Does It Work and Details.
How to send SMS from Ufone number:
Like mentioned earlier, note that Ufone users cannot initiate chat by themselves with any GMail user i.e. they have to receive message from the GMail user first to whom you want to send SMS.
Once you have received the SMS from GMail user, you can simply reply it from your number and message will appear as a reply in GMail chat.
Following is a sample screenshot which I’ve tested myself and it is working pretty fast infact.
Service Charges:
• Sending SMS from GMail is practically free as you are charged with one credit only and recharging credit is pretty easy(explained below).
• Chat replies by Ufone numbers will be charged at Rs. 1 + Tax
How to Get GMail Credits:
• SMS sent by GMail are not actually free but considering the criteria they are practically considered as free as you get 50 credits initially whereas each credit is consumed by sending one SMS.
• For every chat reply received from Ufone number, your account again gets credited with 5 credits so your GMail account will stay fully credited if your contacts are active enough to reply.
• If you are left with 0 credits and haven’t received any reply from mobile user, just don’t worry and wait meanwhile they will automatically be recharged with 50 credits after 24 hours.
Useful Commands:
• HELP: Can be used to get list of useful commands.
• BLOCK: Can be used to block messages from a Gmail user. This command should be sent in response to the SMS from that Gmail user whom you want to block.
• UNBLOCK: Can be used to un-block Gmail user. Use this command if you have blocked some user through above command and now want to unblock him/her
Following commands can be sent at 2434000:
• STOP: To block all messages from all Gmail users.
• START: To resume receiving SMS messages from Gmail if you’ve blocked them via above command.
